In the middle of a Ps rack swap and have a few ???

[Chrisw]

I'm swapping my rack out and its my first time doing it. I have a few simple questions that have come up as I am working on it.

1) should I thread lock the 4 bolts that hold the steering rack in place?

2) when trying to reconnect the steering column, I grant get the sleeve back on the gear thing. I think the issue is that the sleeve was bolted really tight and no doesn't open wide enough to get it back on, I have tried to head it with a torch and pry it open but can't seem to get it open. To get it off, I actually had to pull the rack out and use the weight of the rack to pull it free from the sleeve. Any advice on how I can get it back on?

[DennisC]

1. No thread lock need, just torque to spec
2. Remove it then add some anti seize/grease to it then install it and have both bolts loose when trying to slide it back onto the splines on the rack. Tighten bolts after.

[kruked]

#2:

You need to loosen the bolt and spread the whatchamacallit so the male splines will mate back w/ the female splines. It can be spread, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one to do it.


Have faith, young grasshoppa'

[Chrisw]

Ya, I can see that is SHOULD spread (the for mentioned "whatchamacallit") but mine seems to be jammed closed or something. I've worked on it a couple of times and it's slowly getting on. Thanks!